Comics Therapy. No Reviews. Just Analysis.

Two comics from October 22, 2014. Plus a Second Opinion, featuring questions answered by a different listener each week, with Jason Sacks.

Show Notes:

It’s still October, kids, and we’re still reading scary books. Because when Andrea hits on a theme, she likes to really drive it into the ground, killing it slowly until its rotting, festering remains poison the water supply, causing pestilence and death for miles around. At least for the next two weeks, anyway. Today’s theme is about setting the tone. We’re looking at two first issues of new horror series, and how they establish the look and fear of what is to come.

A brand new story. How does it introduce (and kill off) characters while raising the stakes with an appropriate creep factor? With the undead. And conspiracies.

Back in episode 53, we talked about Jim’s comic Street Angel, published by SLG originally, re-released digitally by MonkeyBrain Comics, and beautifully packaged in a newish hardcover by AdHouse. He’s also the co-creator of the Ignataz-award winning Rambo 3.5 and Afrodisiac. He drew The Guild, written by Felicia Day and published by Dark Horse Comics, and pages for Joe Casey’s new Captain Victory series which we've also talked about, published by Dynamite.

October 19, 2014 @ 9:35 pm

Comics Therapy. No Reviews. Just Analysis.

Two comics from October 15, 2014. Plus a Second Opinion, featuring questions answered by a different listener each week, with Sam Marx.

Show Notes:

It's October, and we're in the mood for some good horror comics. This week’s theme is the slow burn, as applied to those frightening situations that tease and entice us, revealing just enough to keep us interested. These two comics play to and distort our need to have all of the questions answered as soon as possible. And when they don’t, it often makes things even scarier.

Show Notes:

This week, we’re looking at anti-heroes, but cut from a very specific cloth. Say you are a former sidekick. You used to pal around with a pretty serious hero-type. Captain America, say. Or Batman. Strong moral integrity, clear cut sense of right and wrong. Willing to go to extremes to help the little guy. So what happens when you stop being a sidekick? When you get to decide the hero you want to be, instead of standing in the shadows of another. What traits would you emulate? How much of your former role model would you use to define yourself? We’re looking at two books this week whose characters are definitely not sidekicks, and haven’t been for awhile. These men have broken away from their former identities, though those experiences still inform the kind of hero they are today. The assassin. And the spy.

This is the spy. Did you know that? He used to be Batman's sidekick. You probably knew that. He may still be. Does he know that? He's not a traditional hero, either.

Most of you will know Annie as the artist behind Kate Bishop’s adventures in Los Angeles in Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye. She also co-created the new Batgirl in Batman Beyond with writer Scott Peterson. Annie is a storyboard artist for The Venture Brothers on Adult Swim, and straight up one of the funniest people on the internet.